A performance appraisal, employee appraisal, performance review, or (career) development discussion is a method by which the job performance of an employee is evaluated (generally in terms of quality, quantity, cost, and time) typically by the corresponding manager or supervisor .

The Eldorado, extending along the entire blockfront of Central Park West between 90th and 91st Streets, is the northernmost of the four twin-towered apartment houses that give Central Park West its distinctive skyline silhouette. The Eldorado was designed in 1929 by the architectural firm of Margon & Holder with the renowned early 20th-century New York City architect Emery Roth as consultant. These architects created one of the finest and most dramatically massed Art Deco style residential buildings in New York City.

The Eldorado is one of the most distinguished buildings erected as part of the early 20th-century redevelopment of Central Park West. Central Park West, a continuation of Eighth Avenue, runs along the western edge of Central Park. Development along this prime avenue occurred very slowly, lagging substantially behind the general development of the Upper West Side. When Frederick Law Olmsted laid out Central Park he saw that the presence of the park would raise the value of land immediately adjacent to it.

Olmsted expected these areas to develop as prime residential streets. Land speculation did indeed occur on Central Park West. However, the west side of the park never attracted the extremely wealthy people who could afford the inflated prices of land bordering on the park.

Thus, while the side streets of the Upper West Side were built up with rows of speculative houses, Central Park West remained largely undeveloped. A survey of Central Park West published in February 1893 shows that of the three blocks between 60th and 96th Streets nineteen were either totally vacant or contained old shanties and frame houses. Other blocks were partially vacant.

The earliest residential improvement on Central Park West, and one of its great architectural monuments, was the Dakota, a designated New York City Landmark, at 72nd Street. Built in 1880-84, this eight-story building established Central Park West’s character as a street of multiple dwellings. In 1890, by which time the Dakota had been joined by two apartment hotels, the St. Remo on 75th Street and the Beresford on 81st Street, as well as several flat houses, real estate broker F.R. Houghton noted that:

Central Park West seems to have only one future— it is destined to become an avenue of grand apartment houses and hotels. Everything tends that way. It is too public a thoroughfare to become a private residential avenue.

However, it wasn’t until several years later that Central Park West experienced the construction boom that Houghton had predicted.

The first concentrated building boom on Central Park West occurred at the turn of the century when a significant number of elegant residential and institutional buildings were erected south of 96th Street. These include some of the finest apartment houses in New York, such as the Prasada at 65th Street, the Langham at 73rd Street, the Kenilworth at 75th Street, and the St. Urban at 89th Street, as well as such institutional structures as the Ethical Culture Society School and Meeting House at 63rd and 64th Streets, Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at 65th Street, the Second Church of Christ, Scientist at 68th Street, the Congregation Shearith Israel Synagogue at 70th Street, the Universalist Church of the Divine Paternity at 76th Street, and the Progress Club at 88th Street.

The presence of these fine apartment buildings and institutions on Central Park West reflects the coming of age of the Upper West Side. The Upper West Side had developed in the final decades of the 19th century as an enclave of upper middle-class life. Affluent middle-class families were attracted to the area by the quality of its housing, the presence of Riverside Park and Central Park, and by the accessibility of the neighborhood.

As the Upper West Side became more and more desirable, developers began to build on the more expensive sites bordering the parks, and Central Park West began to be transformed into an elegant avenue of tall buildings that contrasted dramatically in scale to low rise residential Fifth Avenue.

During World War I construction on Central Park West slowed, but between 1920 and 1931 the area was transformed as the vacant sites were filled and many of the early apartment hotels and flats were replaced by new apartment houses. This final phase of Central Park West’s development culminated in 1929-31 with the construction of the four twin-towered buildings that give Central Park West its characteristic skyline.

The distinctive form of the Century at 62nd-63rd Streets, the Majestic at 71st-72nd Streets, the San Remo at 74th-75th Streets and the Eldorado at 90th-91st Streets has come to symbolize the high quality of residential design on New York’s Upper West Side.

The Eldorado Apartments is not the first building of that name at this location. The present building replaces the Eldorado flats which consisted of

Bullet Casting

1369 bullets cast in 3 hours. I have another 60 pounds of lead. That should amount to around 4,000 bullets! With Obama in charge, it’s time for everyone to step up and make sure your family is protected.

cast of step up 3

Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street) sizzles as Tyler Gage, a streetwise hunk with a reckless streak, in this exhilarating movie about never giving up on your dreams. When Tyler is sentenced to do community service at a school for the performing arts, he wants nothing to do with their world… until he meets a beautiful dancer who gives him a chance and helps him discover his astonishing pure talent. Featuring the incredible music of Yung Joc, Sean Paul, Chris Brown, Kelis, Mario, and Ciara.

Step Up happily joins the long line of movies intoxicated by sexy bodies in motion. When an overachieving dancer (Jenna Dewan, Take the Lead) at an East Coast art school loses her partner just before a big showcase, her only possible replacement is a young tough (Channing Tatum, She’s the Man) doing community service as a janitor. From there, Step Up slams together a folio of cliches, from prissy-rich-girl-gets-loosened-up-by-poor-boy to hoodlum-learns-the-error-of-his-ways-through-personal-tragedy to artist-discovers-his-voice. It’s set in one of those performing arts schools where the students burst into spontaneous synchronized dance at parties. But Step Up, directed by choreographer Anne Fletcher, has a relaxed kinetic momentum and enough texture to give the nonsense just a hint of realistic grit. More than anything, Step Up shows off hunky Channing Tatum. With his sleepy eyes, broad jaw, and sloping neck, Tatum looks like an Easter Island statue come to life. His acting range may be limited, but Tatum has a definite lazy charisma; even when dancing full tilt, he looks like he just woke up and is still dreaming of the night before. Step Up also features Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) as the requisite tough-but-loving-authority-figure. –Bret Fetzer